However, Tver did not have long to dwell on it before the Creevey brothers came knocking again.
"Professor, Headmaster Dumbledore asked you to come over," Colin said from the doorway, his face brimming with excitement.
His younger brother Dennis poked his head through the crack in the door, eyes shining as he looked at Tver.
"Did something happen?" Tver stood up at once and walked toward them.
Dumbledore would not summon him without reason. Besides, they had a weekly meeting where matters could be discussed. Unless something was urgent, they usually saved it for that time.
But now… well…
It seemed he had indeed skipped a seminar once…
"The Headmaster didn't say, but he asked you to come as soon as possible," Colin replied, shaking his head.
Dennis suddenly lifted his head excitedly. "Other professors are there too! Professor Moody, Professor Snape, and… oh right, the headmaster of Durmstrang, Mr. Karkaroff!"
Tver's curiosity was immediately piqued. He ruffled Dennis's hair, closed the door behind him, and headed toward the Headmaster's office.
"Professor, did you really mess up on purpose during the match?"
Dennis asked with innocent curiosity, unaware he had just stabbed straight into Tver's embarrassment.
Of course, many students in the castle shared the same opinion. Aside from the people directly involved, everyone believed the professor's two consecutive mistakes must carry some deeper meaning.
After all, one mistake was understandable. But for someone as powerful as the professor, a second mistake was simply beyond imagination.
So the students quickly arrived at a lofty explanation: the professor had deliberately made those mistakes so his performance would not overshadow the other Champions.
Tver forced a smile.
"My strength is far greater than theirs, so this is the fairest approach for them," he said, carefully avoiding the real issue.
Dennis still looked puzzled.
"But what about your mistake…"
"Ah, I'm here already. You two should head back and enjoy the beautiful weekend sunshine."
Tver waved his hand and strode up the stairs.
Wait.
He turned around in surprise, staring at the stone gargoyle slowly sliding back into place as the wall closed again.
He ran through the moment in his mind twice but could not remember saying the password.
Then why had the door opened automatically the moment it saw him?
Even Dumbledore had to properly say the password to enter!
After thinking for a moment, Tver suddenly had a thought and took the badge out of his pocket.
Feeling the magic flowing through it, he seemed to realize something.
"Tver? What are you standing there for? Come in."
Professor McGonagall stood at the top of the stairs, looking curious as she walked down.
"Albus and the others are waiting inside, but I need to hurry back. A student just caused an explosion in the Great Hall!"
With that, she quickly left through the door, which opened again.
Could it be Seamus?
Tver chuckled to himself. Even he could not quite understand that explosive prodigy. It was as if his magic was inherently unstable, like gunpowder.
But if Professor McGonagall was in such a hurry, it was probably not a small incident.
Thinking about this, he pushed open the door to the Headmaster's office and immediately felt the strange stillness inside.
Karkaroff sat nervously across from Dumbledore. Snape stood beside him with a cold sneer on his face, though his attention was fixed on Moody, who paced back and forth on the other side of Karkaroff, leaning on his cane.
Before Tver entered, the only sound in the room had been the steady thumping of Moody's footsteps.
Hearing the door, Karkaroff turned his head. The moment he saw Tver, relief spread across his face as if a savior had arrived.
But Dumbledore spoke first.
"You're here. Sit down. We've all been waiting for you, the key figure in dealing with Voldemort."
[...]
Tver looked at Dumbledore speechlessly, whose thick skin could rival the Forbidden Forest, then calmly took the remaining seat. Snape stood between him and Karkaroff.
"What happened that made the First White Wizard so anxious?"
"It's the Dark Lord!" Karkaroff finally found his chance to speak.
He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the grotesque Dark Mark on his left arm.
"The Dark Mark left by the Dark Lord is becoming more and more visible. I even noticed it twitch earlier. Severus can confirm it!"
"I'm honored that you trust me," Snape said with a cold sneer, "but I'm not a coward like you who spends all day staring at a mark."
Moody suddenly slammed his cane onto the ground with a loud bang, drawing everyone's attention.
"Isn't this good news for you?"
"Our master is growing stronger, even approaching resurrection. Shouldn't people like you be happy?" He glared fiercely at Karkaroff and Snape.
"What we feel is none of your business, Alastor Moody!"
Snape showed rare anger. Even during his previous verbal clashes with Tver, he had never looked this furious.
"If I find out again that you're using all kinds of excuses to give Slytherin students detention and forcing them to resist the Imperius Curse, I'll make sure you won't be feeling so pleased!"
"The offspring of trash like Crabbe and Goyle deserve to be locked up for life!"
"Their actions have nothing to do with their fathers. Besides, their fathers were never judged for what happened back then!"
"That's exactly the problem! You and I both know their real crimes should never have been reduced to setting fire to a tent during some ridiculous competition!"
"But it still should have been…"
"Enough!"
Dumbledore infused his voice with magic, instantly suppressing the confrontation between the two men.
"Severus, Moody is a professor. He has the authority to give students appropriate punishment. Besides, as far as we know, Goyle and Crabbe did indeed injure Miss Granger at the time."
"As for you, Alastor," his expression turned stern, "punishing students is a right Hogwarts grants you. But that absolutely does not include making students resist Unforgivable Curses. We discussed this before. Such situations should never occur, even in class."
"Otherwise, the remainder of Goyle and Crabbe's detention will be handed over to Tver."
Moody took a deep breath, his magical eye sweeping across Snape's smug expression.
"I understand. I'll punish them in a way that follows the school rules."
Tver found it somewhat amusing.
He remembered Hermione's accidental injury had happened early in the school year.
And now Goyle and Crabbe had somehow ended up with what looked like year-long detention.
But for Barty Jr., the people he despised most were those Death Eaters who had escaped trial by claiming they had been under the Imperius Curse.
So it was not hard to understand why Goyle and Crabbe were receiving this kind of treatment.